Stanley Kubrick

Discussion and info on people in film, ranging from directors to actors to cinematographers to writers.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

#51 Post by justeleblanc » Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:02 pm

I also heard he loved The Jerk in an interview with Steve Martin.

User avatar
Fletch F. Fletch
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
Location: Provo, Utah

#52 Post by Fletch F. Fletch » Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:16 pm

Oedipax wrote:Oh, also, I just remembered reading that Kubrick was a big fan of Eraserhead - David Lynch reportedly heard from someone that it was Kubrick's all-time favorite.
Lynch recounts (I believe it might be in Lynch on Lynch) how Kubrick was so taken with Eraserhead that he contacted Lynch and asked him how he did the Baby in the movie because he couldn't figure out. Lynch refused to tell him. Also, I read in an interview with Paul Thomas Anderson, that Kubrick was a fan of his movies and invited him to the set of Eyes Wide Shut.

User avatar
Doctor Sunshine
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:04 pm
Location: Brain Jail

#53 Post by Doctor Sunshine » Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:16 pm

As Kubrick's name gets dropped in more commentary tracks than any other director, I remember these from those: Altman said Kubrick phoned him up to ask him how he knew he got the shot, in McCabe and Mrs. Miller, where Keith Carradine visibly lights a cigarette in a silhouette long shot from across a bridge. And Albert Brooks said, I don't even know which movie, that Kubrick phoned him up to say how impressed he was with the film's portrayal of jealousy and that he'd been trying to figure out how to pull that off for ages. Though, I suppose neither of those anecdotes prove that Kubrick actually liked the entire movies.

User avatar
The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
Location: Teegeeack

#54 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:26 pm

The Brooks movie was Modern Romance. Brooks talked about it in a Playboy interview back in 2000:
PLAYBOY: You actually had a peculiar relationship with Stanley Kubrick. How did his death hit you?

BROOKS: I cried. I swear to God. Just for minute. He was the kind of guy that you never thought would die. Because you never thought he was alive anyway.

PLAYBOY: You never actually laid eyes on the man, did you?

BROOKS: That's right! Therefore, why should he go? But he was truly the greatest film maker that ever lived. I'll tell you, the biggest thrill I probably ever had in the film business was when he called me after seeing Modern Romance. He was so complimentary and said, "This is the movie I've always wanted to make!" I'm anxious to see Eyes Wide Shut, because, from what I understand, this is his jealousy movie.

PLAYBOY: But, for a while there, you talked to him regularly.

BROOKS: We started to correspond and have these conversations. I probably got a little too friendly. When The Shining came out, I saw Scatman Crothers on a talk show saying how many takes Kubrick made him do: "I had to walk into the Overlook Hotel fifty-five-hundred tiiiimes!" So I couldn't wait for my weekly call to Stanley -- I thought I'd make him laugh with my Scatman imitation. He came on the phone and I started doing Scatman -- "I had to walk into the Overlook fiffffty-fi—" I never got any further. This man lost it: "Never use him! Don't ever work with him! He never knew his lines!" He started telling me secrets I didn't want to know: "I was in the editing room for 150 hours!" I said, "No, no, I just wanted to do the imitation..." It was one of the last conversations we ever had. But he was so private. He would reach out for a minute, then close the door again. Years later, he called me about an idea he had for a comedy and asked what I thought of Steve Martin. And I was like: What -- are you crazy? I mean, I'd give my right ball to work with you! Do I really have to recommend Steve Martin? What do I think? He's wonderful -- go use him!

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

#55 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:43 pm

He also had an admiration for Leone, when it was mentioned somewhere how Leone's use of music on the set during the making of Once Upon A Time In The West inspired a similar technique for Barry Lyndon.

I wonder how he would have responded seeing The Matrix.

User avatar
viridiana
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:48 am
Location: Freedonia

#56 Post by viridiana » Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:51 pm

If we're on the subject of Kubrick's favorite films, then I feel obligated to bring up Toshio Matsumoto's avant-garde masterpiece Funeral Parade of Roses. Kubrick borrowed certain elements of the film in A Clockwork Orange. Having recently seen the film for the first time, I must say that Kubrick did not have bad taste.

yoshimori
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:03 am
Location: LA CA

#57 Post by yoshimori » Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:50 pm

viridiana wrote:...Toshio Matsumoto's avant-garde masterpiece Funeral Parade of Roses. Kubrick borrowed certain elements of the film in A Clockwork Orange.
Could you elaborate? What elements did SK borrow, I wonder? I like the Matsumoto film a lot, but I wonder how Kubrick might have seen the film before he started working on ACO.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

#58 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:16 pm

Is it true Stanley wanted to use Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother Suite" for Clockwork Orange but the offer was rejected by the band or it's management? I've heard this rumor on PF sites before, and I know for a fact that Stanley refused to let Roger Waters use some dialogue from 2001 on his Amused to Death album.

User avatar
viridiana
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:48 am
Location: Freedonia

#59 Post by viridiana » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:58 am

Well, seeing as how I haven't seen ACO in quite a long time, my statement was based more on hearsay than on my own knowledge. But, there are two extremely obvious scenes that come to mind. In Funeral Parade of Roses, there is a scene in which two men have to clean their office and they do so in an extremely sped-up fashion, very similar to the scene in which Alex cleans what I believe was his room in A Clockwork Orange. Also, there is a scene in FPoR where a group of three transvestites walk very in a horizontal to a pier, just like the infamous scene with Alex and his droogs in ACO. I'm sure there are more similarities, but like I said, it's been years since I've seen ACO, so mind draws a blank.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

#60 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:57 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Is it true Stanley wanted to use Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother Suite" for Clockwork Orange but the offer was rejected by the band or it's management? I've heard this rumor on PF sites before, and I know for a fact that Stanley refused to let Roger Waters use some dialogue from 2001 on his Amused to Death album.
Does anyone know? I'm honestly very curious about this.

User avatar
Godot
Cri me a Tearion
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:13 am
Location: Phoenix

#61 Post by Godot » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:06 am

I've read that he also adored these: ...Kieslowski...

In particular, The Decalogue (Dekalog). SK told Frederick Rafael that the work was the best he'd seen in recent years and (impressing Rafael) he wished he'd done it. SK also wrote an introduction to the published screenplays for Dekalog, which is instructive:

I am always reluctant to single out some particular feature of the work of a major filmmaker because it tends inevitably to simplify and reduce the work. But in this book of screenplays by Krzysztof Kieslowski and his co-author, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, it should not be out of place to observe that they have the very rare ability to dramatize their ideas rather than just talking about them. By making their points through the dramatic action of the story they gain the added power of allowing the audience to discover what's really going on rather than being told. They do this with such dazzling skill, you never see the ideas coming and don't realize until much later how profoundly they have reached your heart.
Stanley Kubrick
January 1991


Kubrick repeatedly told Michael Herr that The Godfather was "possibly the greatest movie ever made." And when Christiane Kubrick and producer Jan Harlan appeared on the Charlie Rose show in 2001, they noted that Kubrick enjoyed films by New York directors, especially those taking place in NYC, and in particular those of Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese (never missing a film by them). This dumbfounded and moved Scorsese (present on the panel) nearly to tears. I still am kicking myself for not recording this while I was watching. Maybe it will show up on the SE of EWS someday.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

#62 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Feb 26, 2006 10:28 am

I had that episode of Charlie Rose on tape somewhere, in crappy quality.

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#63 Post by tavernier » Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:30 pm

Kubrick repeatedly told Michael Herr that The Godfather was "possibly the greatest movie ever made." .
Oh well....the master's critical acumen was not infallible.

TedW
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 6:57 pm
Location: A Theatre Near You

#64 Post by TedW » Wed Apr 12, 2006 5:04 am

tavernier wrote:Oh well....the master's critical acumen was not infallible.
Excuse me?

User avatar
Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

#65 Post by Barmy » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:31 am

Kubrick liked The Godfather?!?! Too much information!

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#66 Post by tavernier » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:17 pm

In Friday's NY Times, there's a preview of a Kubrick retro beginning Saturday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. So what's wrong with this sentence?

The Museum of the Moving Image is screening all 12 of his feature films in this five-week series, plus Max Ophuls' 1950 Vienna romance "La Ronde," based on the same Arthur Schnitzler novel as Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut"

User avatar
toiletduck!
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:43 pm
Location: The 'Go
Contact:

#67 Post by toiletduck! » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:32 pm

A.I.? Appreciate the inclusion, but as one of Kubrick's feature films? That's sketchy at best.

EDIT: Being the moron that I am, I just scanned the screenshots. I thought it was a little odd that they would do a retro w/o Lolita...

-Toilet Dcuk
Last edited by toiletduck! on Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#68 Post by tavernier » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:33 pm

They're not including A.I. as one of Kubrick's features, any more than they're calling "La Ronde" a Kubrick film.

They're not including A.I. as one of Kubrick's features; there are 12 Kubrick-directed films in the series.

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

#69 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:35 pm

You people hate The Godfather? It's not my personal favorite, but a bad movie? :?

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#70 Post by tavernier » Fri Jun 02, 2006 3:45 pm

hearthesilence wrote:You people hate The Godfather? It's not my personal favorite, but a bad movie? :?
Smells like another thread.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#71 Post by Matt » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:07 pm

tavernier wrote:In Friday's NY Times, there's a preview of a Kubrick retro beginning Saturday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. So what's wrong with this sentence?

The Museum of the Moving Image is screening all 12 of his feature films in this five-week series, plus Max Ophuls' 1950 Vienna romance "La Ronde," based on the same Arthur Schnitzler novel as Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut"...
You mean beyond the fact that La Ronde is based on Schnitzler's Der Reigen whereas Eyes Wide Shut is based on Schnitzler's Traumnovelle? And thus La Ronde has absolutely no business being included in even the most loosely-defined Kubrick retrospective?

Actually, according the the MotMI website, they're showing it because Ophuls was "Kubrick's favorite director" and because the source materials share an author. Well, shit, why not just show Carrie, too? Or those Nescafe commercials Kubrick was obsessed with?

But then again, any excuse to show La Ronde in 35mm is a good one.
Last edited by Matt on Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#72 Post by tavernier » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:10 pm

That's one mistake...then there's the "12 feature films" mistake. The retro doesn't include Fear and Desire, but it's still a Kubrick film (however much he detested it himself).

User avatar
skuhn8
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:46 pm
Location: Chico, CA

#73 Post by skuhn8 » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:28 pm

matt wrote:Or those Nescafe commercials Kubrick was obsessed with?
Wait, I want to know more about this? What Nescafe commercials?

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#74 Post by Matt » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:42 pm

skuhn8 wrote:
matt wrote:Or those Nescafe commercials Kubrick was obsessed with?
Wait, I want to know more about this? What Nescafe commercials?
Sydney Pollack wrote:I remember once we got into a discussion over there being too many words in English dialogue. So he started taping NesCafe commercials. At the time in France there were these NesCafe commercials that were basically mini-dramas. So Stanley would send me these little NesCafe commercials ... and he would edit them! Then he would say, "Now, there were 93 words in this and I took 17 of them out." He'd do stuff like this.
These were the ones with Anthony Stewart Head trying to woo his neighbor with Taster's Choice.

User avatar
skuhn8
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:46 pm
Location: Chico, CA

#75 Post by skuhn8 » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:47 pm

Now there's an extra I would double dip for: Kubrick's Nescafe reedits! Strangely, even if all other parties consented Nescafe would probably turn into Welles's bitch daughter as far as releasing rights.

Post Reply